Pre purchase questions

[Martin Lyons]

Hello, my queries are

- With about 200CDs, I dont think i need the 2Tb model. Is the basic circuitry the same spec for the smaller model/

- My other equipment is fairly old. My amp (Cambridge A75) only has jack plug connections, will a B2 connect ok? Ditto our Sharp home cinema system in another room which ALSO has red/black plug input.

- I would like to digitise some vinyl LP tracks and 45s. Will the B2 do this from the A75 output, or record deck (Shure M75 Cartridge)?

Thanks for any tips

ML

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi ML,

No if you just want to load 200 CDs you will not need 2Tb. One of the members on this Forum (Peter) should be able to tell you almost exactly how much space these will take as WAV or FLAC files.

All Brennan B2 units essentially contain the same components, it is just the disk size that varies.

The B2 has various outputs, for your system you would do best to take an optical feed from the B2 and pass this into an external DAC with outputs that suit your Amp/TV.

The B2 can be used digitize vinyl but most people find it easier to use a PC to achieve this then uploading to the B2.

Fred

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi ML,

Fred's recommendation to use a DAC between the B2 and your A75 is the best option.  But you can get an audio cable that will connect the analog output of the B2 to a line level analog input on your A75.  The cable end for the B2 is a mini plug, and the end for the A75 will probably be two RCA  jacks (one connection each for left and right channels).  You can learn more about this, and all things Brennan, at the Brennan website.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi ML,

For 200 CDs to be stored on the Brennan, volume sizes will be approximately as follows.

110 GB for WAV format (uncompressed)

52 GB for FLAC format

20 GB for mp3 256K format

10 GB for mp3 128K format.

The most popular format to rip to is FLAC format.  This is because FLAC is lossless and you can reconstruct a CD back from the FLAC file  and have no data loss.  If you compress to any MP3 format, some of the music data will be lost in the compression process and can not ever be recovered.

Regards,

Peter.

[PMB]

Hi ML,

To clarify - the B2 has a basic recording function that can be used to digitise your Vinyl. However it will record one side of an LP as one long track and does not have the facility to split this into individual tracks and name them.

That's why others are recommending using a computer and 3rd party software (Audacity, dbpoweramp, etc) to do this.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Graham Smout]

Hi  ML

You cannot connect a vinyl  record deck cartridge straight into the B2 ; The signal from the cartridge is too weak and also requires equalisation. So you will need to use a  phono (record deck ) pre-amp section between the cartridge and  the B2 to produce a line level analogue input. If  you use  your Cambridge Stereo Amplifier then the  analogue output you use for the B2 must be at line level - you cannot use the speaker outputs as they would be incompatible with the  B2 line level input and would damage it. If the Cambridge has a Tape Out sockets then they would be perfect .

Good luck

Graham

[Mike W]

I've digitised about 100 vinyl discs using Audacity on the laptop. It's really straight forward with a not too steep a learning curve.

Using Audacity you can separate out the tracks and also correct any imperfections such as scratches.

A good quality usb turntable is not too expensive and it's a good winter project......

Mike

[Jeff. M.]

Agreed Mike, I did the same a few months ago, bought a cheap USB turntable, and found Audacity very easy to use. My 2nd batch were much better after I bought a new stylus! But very easy to do! 

[Davywhizz]

The Cambridge A75 power amp was usually bundled with the C75 preamp, which had a pretty good phono stage. However,  as noted, digitising vinyl on a laptop from a USB turntable will give a lot more control prior to transfer to a B2.

[Daniel Taylor]

I use Audacity too.  I put off trying it for years because I thought it would be too complicated or not do what I wanted it to do.  I was wrong.  It does have way more functionality than I'll ever use.  But it allows me to separate tracks with precision.  And it has tools for noise reduction/removal that can be done in various ways, depending on how exacting you want to be.

[Martin Lyons]

Thanks to all for the advice.

ML